Defending champions India raised the intensity in the business end of the Asian Champions Trophy, hammering a hapless South Korea 8-1 to set up a title clash against Japan.Japan secured a shootout win over Malaysia in the first semifinal.If India faced little resistance from Korea in their final group-stage match in Jalandhar on Monday, which they won 8-0, the semifinal was one-way traffic throughout. From the opening whistle, it was clear which Indian team had turned up. They were sharper, more organised and showed a clear intent to attack.The reward was immediate, with Shilanand Lakra opening the scoring in the fourth minute. The half-empty stadium echoed with the cheers of hundreds of schoolchildren in attendance.Korea, however, responded with a surprise deflected goal from Sangjun Han five minutes later.The strike briefly silenced the crowd, but their celebrations soon resumed as captain Harmanpreet Singh restored India’s lead just seconds later.The Korean goal unleashed an Indian onslaught as the hosts scored in quick succession through Lakra (13th), Sukhjeet Singh (21st) and Dilpreet Singh (21st, 25th) to take a 6-1 lead into half-time.Despite the comfortable advantage, India did not take their foot off the pedal. They continued to apply a high press with tight man-marking, as if coach Craig Fulton wanted to further test his side. Angad Bir Singh added another goal in the 36th minute.The final break, however, halted India’s momentum and the contest turned into a chaotic end-to-end affair. With Korea pushing forward, India created several open chances but squandered most of them. Vivek Sagar Prasad finally added to the scoreline in the 54th minute as India sailed into their third successive final.“We were motivated to make a fast start as it was the semifinal,” Sukhjeet said. “We wanted to make our chances count. Luckily, we got a few goals in the first quarter and we kept pushing for more,” he added.Earlier, Japan edged past Asian Games finalists Malaysia 5-3 in the shootout after a goalless draw in regulation time.Malaysia were largely the dominant side but could not convert their possession into clear scoring opportunities, despite earning five penalty corners. They were also guilty of allowing their dominance to slip through ill-discipline, collecting four cards. Each time they built momentum, Malaysia picked up a card, handing the initiative back to their opponents.Japan enjoyed their best spell just after the start of the final quarter when Malaysia were reduced to 10 men for five minutes following a yellow card. However, they too failed to find a winner despite pushing Malaysia onto the back foot.The shootout was decided by a single miss as Faizal Saari fluffed Malaysia’s first attempt. They never recovered from that setback, while Japan converted comfortably against Malaysian goalkeeper Hafizuddin Othman, who retreated too deep and failed to apply pressure on the shooters.